Spartans Drop Heartbreaker to Cougars in Overtime

 

NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. – The Manchester University men’s soccer team dropped a heartbreaking 1-0 decision in overtime against the University of St. Francis.

With both teams playing to a scoreless draw after regulation, it was the visiting Cougars who managed to net the golden goal in extra time.

 

In the 98th minute, USF’s Tobias Kuhn fired a cross into the box from the far side that was headed in by Cesar Valdez.

For the game, St. Francis narrowly outshot Manchester 11-9. The Spartans held a narrow 5-4 advantage in corners taken.

 

The Black & Gold had a few near misses at goal during Wednesday’s contest. In the 16th minute, Ian Bowron (Fishers, Ind./Fishers) put a header on target that hit the crossbar. Later on in the 79th minute, Harley Kruschwitz (North Manchester, Ind./Manchester) led a counter and was able to find Ruben Gonzalez (Sylvania, Ohio/Sylvania Northview) who’s shot was saved by a diving Gabriel Vessely.

 

Manchester (0-3-1) will look to rebound this weekend when the Spartans host a pair of home matches. Manchester will host Webster on Friday (6 p.m. – Spartan Stadium) and Greenville on Saturday (3 p.m. – Good Field).

St. Francis moved to 2-2-1 with the win on Wednesday night. The Cougars will host Moody Bible Institute on Saturday.

Manchester Drops Road Match at Albion

 

ALBION, Mich. – The Manchester University volleyball team was able to grind out a 30-28 first set victory, however, the host Albion Britons were able to rally past the Spartans in the second, third, and fourth sets for a 3-1 victory on Wednesday night.

 

The Britons claimed the second, third, and fourth sets by scores of 25-18, 25-16, and 25-11.

 

The Spartans took the marathon first set after hitting .237 as a unit. After the opening set, the Spartans’ offense slowed as MU hit only .111, .114, and -.069 in sets two through four.

 

Albion’s offense was tough to counter as the Britons hit .290 in Wednesday’s match.

 

Manchester was led by Halle Planck’s (Gas City, Ind./Mississinewa) 11 kills. Sara Shultz (Churubusco, Ind./East Noble) added 8 kills and a team-leading .368 hitting percentage. Carly Ripberger (Tipton, Ind./Tipton) tallied 31 assists on the evening while Rachael Ressler (Tipton, Ind./Tipton) posted a team-leading 18 digs. Helaina Walters (Marion, Ind./Eastbrook) had 5 service aces.

 

Albion got double-digit kills from Kaylynne Nicholson (15) and Olivia Alexander (14).

 

Manchester (3-2) will head to Cincinnati, Ohio this weekend for the Mount St. Joseph Invitational. The Black & Gold will take on Greenville and Anderson on Friday evening before facing off against Mount St. Joseph and Wilmington on Saturday morning.

 

Albion moved to 4-1 with the victory.